December was a month that just was. I read what I needed to read. And that’s about it. Only 3 books. But a total of 1,663 pages which is an average of 54 pages per day. So here goes!
The Source by James A. Michener (1088 pages). I’m pretty sure this book was given to me. For two reasons. One- it’s clearly a used book (taped spine, torn cover) and I tend not to buy used books too often. And two- there’s not a snowball’s chance that I actually picked up this book and thought “yes, this seems like my type of book.” I didn’t like it from the moment I read the first page. But I am cleaning off these shelves and reading stuff I don’t want to read. So it got finished. Basically, it’s several stories in one. All of them connected to the fictional location of Makor in Israel. Stories of Makor’s beginnings in 9800’s BC all the way up to the 1960’s when Makor was the site of an archeological dig. Each chapter represented a different level of Makor’s history. Which was a very interesting way to write the novel, even if I didn’t enjoy all of the stories. I finished in 21 days.
Francona: The Red Sox Years by Terry Francona and Dan Shaughnessy (343 pages). As a lifelong member of the Red Sox Nation, this was a great read for me. My dad actually gave it to me after he finished it. Francona was the greatest manager in Sox history. He was the manager who finally broke the Curse of the Bambino with the 2004 Idiots. For any babes all fan, the book was great. I learned a lot about the behind the scenes things that were happening. I finished in 6 days.
Kate: The Life of Katherine Hepburn by Charles Higham (232 pages). I recently read Hepburn’s own diary from The African Queen. So it was interesting to read more about her life. She was quite a character- outspoken, liberal, and utterly devoted to Spencer Tracy. I finished in 4 days. Because that’s all that was left in the month.
This month’s favorite was... Francona. Without a doubt.
The year in review. I read 91 books. That’s 7 1/2 books a month. And a total of 32,238 pages for an average of 88 pages a day. That’s the most books I’ve read in a year since I started blogging in 2011. Considering the last third of the year was reading books I wasn’t excited about, I’m actually SUPER proud of how many books I read this year!!
